August 13, 2006

"The use of more force now is not in Israel's best interests," [author Amos] Oz told reporters before the rally in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. "The time has come to resolve this through diplomatic means."

Meanwhile, Israel has agreed to a UN resolution to halt the violence and will cease attacks... on Monday.

Israeli officials said Israel believed it would be entitled to use force to prevent Hizbollah from rearming and to clear guerrilla positions out of southern Lebanon after the truce took effect. They said such "defensive" operations were permissible under the U.N. resolution to end the fighting.

Western diplomats and U.N. officials said they feared Israel's broad definition of "defensive" actions could lead to a resurgence in large-scale fighting and prevent the swift deployment of international troops meant to monitor a ceasefire.

"It will be a fragile truce," said a Western diplomat involved in the deliberations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni repeated Israel's position that its troops would only pull out when a peacekeeping force arrived -- which the U.N. says could take up to 10 days.

Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday his guerrillas would observe a truce once it began but reserved the right to fight Israeli soldiers still on Lebanese soil.